(1 of )Sebastopol had been celebrating its apple heritage since the early 1900s. Click through our gallery on the early days of the apple industry as we get ready to celebrate the 71st annual Apple Blossom Festival. In this photo a young woman holds a sign advertising the 1950 Apple Blossoms Festival. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(2 of )Workers and apples in an unidentified fruit packinghouse in Healdsburg California, circa 1880s. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(3 of )An early wood fired apple dryer near Occidental, circa 1890. (Courtesy of the Western Sonoma County Historical Society)

(4 of )People standing on the loading dock in front of an apple dryer in Windsor, circa 1896. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(5 of )Stacks of apple boxes on the loading dock in the rear of the Hallberg Apple cannery and packinghouse in Graton, early 1900s. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(6 of )A crew of mostly women pose around crates of apples inside the T.J. James apple dryer in Graton around 1907. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(7 of )A group of female apple packers in the early 1900s. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(8 of )A group of women packing apples in Graton in 1906. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(9 of )Huntley Apple Dryer workers pose for a photo on the loading dock, circa 1906. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(10 of )A mixed gender packing crew pose outside of the James apple dryer, 1907. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(11 of )A bin full of dried apples at the Frei dryer, circa 1909. (Courtesy of the Western Sonoma County Historical Society)

(12 of )A group of men and women at work at the Frei apple dryer in Sebastopol/Graton in 1909. (Courtesy of the Western Sonoma County Historical Society)

(13 of )People coring apples at Frei Brothers processing plant in Sebastopol in 1909. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(14 of )An apple packing crew in Graton, circa 1910. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(15 of )Crowds wait in line to enter the 1910 Sebastopol Apple Show. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(16 of )A mixed gender crew stand on a loading dock of the Graton apple packing house, 1910. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(17 of )The 1912 Apple Show in Sebastopol. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(18 of )The Healdsburg Chamber of Commerce exhibit at an unidentified Apple Show, circa 1912. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(19 of )A 1913 Sebastopol Apple Show replica of a blimp made from apples is suspended from the ceiling. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(20 of )A 1914 Gravenstein Apple Show display of two oxen pulling a covered wagon made from whole and dried apples. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(21 of )Apple Picking at Garbro Orchards, circa 1915. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(22 of )The crew of the Graton Union Dryer Packinghouse pose for a portrait on August 1, 1923. (Courtesy of the Western Sonoma County Historical Society)

(23 of )Workers from the Taniguchi fruit dryer in Sebastopol pose for a picture in front of the plant in the 1920s. (Courtesy of the Western Sonoma County Historical Society)

(24 of )Sebastopols 1928 Apple Blossom Queen Laurie Carr, age 10. (Courtesy of the Western Sonoma County Historical Society)

(25 of )A Gravenstein Apple Show clown with small child standing in front of an apple booth, circa 1930. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(26 of )Female workers in uniforms packing apples in tissue paper at the Barlow Ranch in the 1930s. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library

(27 of )The Hotle orchard at the Hood Ranch in the early 1930s. (Courtesy of the Western Sonoma County Historical Society)

(28 of )Ivan Roberts as a young man picking apples in an orchard, circa 1930s. (Courtesy of the Western Sonoma County Historical Society)

(29 of )Apple picking in Sebastopol at Mel Kauffman’s Ranch and apple orchard in 1935. (Courtesy of the Western Sonoma County Historical Society)

(30 of )Mrs. Donald Osborne riding a tractor in Mel Kaufman's apple orchard, 1935. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(31 of )The Miss Sonoma County float in the Apple Parade, circa 1939. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(32 of )Gertrude Roberts and her young son Don pick Gravenstein apples on a ladder in the early 1940s. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(33 of )A portrait of the Hirooka and Hamamoto families, apple farmers from Petaluma, circa 1945. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(35 of )Apple Land: A postcard of an apple orchard in bloom with three children looking on and inset of large red apple, circa 1950. (Courtesy of the Western Sonoma County Historical Society)

(36 of )Mayor John Spooner crowns the Sebastopol Apple Blossom Queen Kathleen Fleming in front of the Chamber of Commerce building in Sebastopol. Apple Blossom Princesses Peggy Osborn (Stevens) and Helen Inman in attendance, circa 1951. (Courtesy of the Western Sonoma County Historical Society)

(37 of )A Sebastopol apple orchard in full bloom, 1957. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(38 of )The Local 890 Teamsters Union float in the Sebastopol Apple Blossom Parade, 1959. (Photo by Don Meacham, Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(39 of )The Apple Blossom Queen and her court on a float at the corner of Main Street and Berry Lane, circa 1968. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

Bite into the history of Sebastopol's apple industry

This year’s Apple Blossom Festival and Parade takes place on Saturday, April 22 and Sunday, April 23. Visit appleblossomfest.com for details.

Before west county's sun dappled hills were covered with grape vines, apples ruled the slopes.

It was in the late 1800s when famed horticulturist Luther Burbank recommended that Nathaniel Griffith cultivate Gravensteins apples for commercial use. Since then, apples have been a major agricultural crop in Sonoma County. Apple orchards, dryers and packaging facilities employed men and women of different races and ethnicities. Railroads whisked thousands of cars of crisp apples down to the Bay area and places elsewhere.

Sebastopol has been celebrating its apple heritage since 1910 with harvest festivals that cap the end of the agricultural season. In 1946, Sebastopol celebrated its first Apple Blossom Festival to welcome in the beginning of spring and a new crop. This year marks the extravaganza’s 71st anniversary.

Click through our gallery on the early days of the Sonoma County apple industry.